Van Wombell '85 

Once you get on that Geo field trip bus, do you ever really get off? Hopefully not! I still enjoy digging into the occasional georelated topic that catches the eye. A few years ago I heard an investment pitch for a small company in Canada with a seemingly unique deposit of igneous-derived graphite which the founders believe is an advantaged source of precursor material for the production of graphene for use in all sorts of whizzbang nanotech miracles. After much procrastination, I got curious enough to do some research and even reached out to Jeff Noblett for reactions on this elegant paper: Geology ore characteristics and origin of the Albany graphite deposit

Jeff graciously wrote back on the merits of Conly and Moore's analysis and it was fun to hear his thoughts on mantle-derived magmas, wall rock alteration, and graphite precipitation. Today, the company is called Zentek (www.zentek.com) and is focused on intellectual property, not mining. Their first commercial product is an antimicrobial silvergraphene-oxide ink which enables surgical masks to capture and kill COVID particles. How cool is that? Geology saves the world?! Note: this does not constitute investment advice. Objects in geo bus mirror are closer than they appear. Stay curious. PS: for anyone who has not discovered it, this is a wonderful account on Instagram to follow: geomorphological_landscapes

Matt Seitz ‘97

My 1997 CC geology degree led me to a career in hydrogeologic consulting that I’ve been enjoying for the last 22 years. Components of this were an independent Hydrogeo study block in particular, and internship at Bishop Brogden as Junior. I look back with appreciation on my time at CC.

For the last few years, I’ve been working with a team of dedicated student volunteers and mentors from the Colorado School of Mines, Rotary International, Rotary District 5450 / Westminster club), and Engineers Without Borders USA (Eveling Rodriguez, Francisco Javier López Cerón & others) to bring safe and reliable water to a community of 200 in rural Nicaragua. After many challenges, the new water system (a 250’ well, water tanks, chlorinator, miles of pipeline, water line suspension crossings, taps at each home, etc...) are finally done! I encourage you to learn more about the above organizations and contribute financially or share your expertise. Email me if you’d like to attend a Feb. 9th presentation (online available) on this project or to find out how to get involved with similar volunteer water and sanitation projects. Thanks also for tech help from Franklin Electric, Xylem Inc., and In-Situ Environmental Muller Engineering Company, and The Groundwater Project.

Michelle (Segal) Smith ‘98

This is from the CC Alumni Total Solar Eclipse in Antarctica trip. Our ship traveled through very rough (10 meter!) seas to get to/from the South Orkney Islands to be in the Eclipse’s path of totality. Unfortunately the weather didn't’t cooperate. We were so happy to finally set foot on land after that intense journey. It was incredibly special to be there with Christine since she inspired me to first dream about Antarctica nearly 25 years ago.

Christine Siddoway, Michelle (Segal) Smith ‘98 & husband Doug Smith: Monday, Dec 6, 2021 Tabarin Peninsula, Antarctic Peninsula

Claire Lukens ‘04

This last year brought a lot of change for me. I married my partner, Jason Burge; moved from New Zealand to California; bought a wonderful house; and lost a long-time field adventure dog, Huxley, who some in the department knew. I also started a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Life and Environmental Sciences Dept. at UC Merced. I am enjoying setting up a new lab, getting to know Merced’s students in-person, and exploring the wonderful landscapes nearby (including Yosemite!).

A moment of hilarity popping champagne just after our tiny beach wedding ceremony at Makara Beach, New Zealand.

Fransiska Danneman Dugick ‘15

2021 was an exciting year for Fransiska Dannemann Dugick. She successfully defended her PhD dissertation in February. After four years at Los Alamos National Lab, she transitioned in August 2020 and is currently working as a member of the technical research staff at Sandia National Laboratories in the Geophysical Detection Technologies Department, focusing on ground-based and arial seismoacoustic applications for global monitoring efforts. She had the pleasure of bringing on a Witter Intern, Nora Wynn, during the summer of 2021. Nora had the opportunity to join in a field campaign with Oklahoma State University and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory focused on recording earthquakes on acoustic sensors from solar balloons (see photo). She and Nora are currently working on a peer-reviewed publication summarizing Nora’s summer research. After two years of remote meetings, Fransiska was delighted to attend the 2021 American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans and reconnect with CC classmates. On a personal note, Fransiska and her husband are loving life in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They adopted their third dog, a foster fail puppy named Charlie in November and have been slowly incorporating him into their pack.

Nora Wynn '23 and Fransiska preparing for a balloon launch summer 2021

Tristan White ‘18

Hi all! Time flies. Yada, yada. My wife Becki and I were recently married in July 2022 in Larkspur, Colorado. We met studying geology abroad at the University of Canterbury in 2017 and reconnected the following year since she grew up 20 minutes from Yale (thanks Paul!). I turned in my lab coat for a pickaxe in 2019 and haven’t looked back since. We are approaching four years at the behemoth Morenci copper mine in Arizona where Becki works in modeling and I’m coordinating our drilling campaigns. Thanks to my newfound Covid-era hobby—genealogy—I’ve since learned I am the sixth generation of ‘White’ in the mining industry, so it’s all quite fitting. We eventually plan on moving to the East Coast, but we’ll be enjoying the mild, sunny winters until then! In other news, we honeymooned in Curacao, are headed to Hawaii this spring and are halfway through our quest of visiting all the National Parks. One must constantly travel to avoid going stir crazy in a tiny company town three hours outside of Tucson! Hopefully everyone is in good health and spirit. Very much looking forward to attending our 5-year reunion this October!

Tristan ('18) and Becki getting married in Larkspur, CO, in July 2022.

Claire Brandhorst ‘21

I’m currently living in Jackson Wyoming, continuing snow science education and skiing most days. Life is fun and cold, but I miss looking at rocks every day and hanging out with all of the majors. In particular, I miss the late nights in labs or on field trips when, in the moment, I suffered and wanted to go to sleep, but now bring a smile to my face.

Claire Brandhorst and her dog Dewy having fun in the snow in Jackson, WY

Sam Bower ‘21

I am going to school at West Virginia University. I am working with remote sensing techniques and numerical modeling to predict the future of the heavily-mined southern coalfields of WV and Kentucky. I love what I’m doing because I get to use cool tools like LiDAR scanners, drones, and supercomputers to answer questions. In my spare time I’m biking, skating, climbing , playing in a punk band with some other geology majors, and hitting the pubs. What I miss about CC is socializing in Mandy’s office and golfing tennis balls towards my professors on the quad. Here’s a picture of me doing home repair with a rock hammer!

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